Tell The Whole Story
by Paris in December
Summary: Harry and Draco have their friends over for Christmas, and Hermione wonders how their family got the way it is, so the adults proceed to explain. Severus/Sirius, Regulus/James, Narcissa/Lily. Slash and femslash. Chapters: 2/?. Never Tell series.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** This is not technically a challenge fic, but I got a bunch of prompts from Cheeky Slytherin Lass anyway. The one I used for the prologue is "begging."

This is the sequel to "Never Tell." For anyone who found parts of "Never Tell" confusing because of the format, this fic should eventually clear up the way things occurred.

* * *

**Prologue**

"Harry! Harry, get up!"

Harry groaned and rolled over, burying his face in his pillow. "Nngh."

There was a moment of silence, and then a voice right in his ear. "HARRY! GET UP!"

"All right, I'm up," Harry grumbled. He turned over again and sat up, groggily rubbing his eyes. "Now go away, Draco."

"Not until I know you're getting ready," Draco insisted. "It's _Christmas_, Harry! Remember? Literally everyone's going to be here!"

"I'm sure it's not _literally_ everyone," came Hermione's voice from the doorway. Harry, who had been about to remove his pajama shirt, dropped it quickly back into place and glared at his friend, but she ignored him. "There are billions of people in the world, and even if you're only counting witches and wizards, that's still thousands."

"When did you get here, Hermione?" Harry asked, before Draco could start arguing with her.

"Just now. I heard Draco shouting and came up to investigate." Hermione walked over and perched on the edge of Harry's bed.

"I didn't mean everyone in the _world_," said Draco, undeterred by Harry's attempted change of subject. "I just meant the whole family and all our friends."

"Pansy's here already too," Hermione informed Harry, "and I'm sure Blaise and Neville will be here soon. And there are some other people –"

"Aunt Andy and Uncle Ted," Draco clarified. "So come _on_, Harry, get dressed and let's get downstairs and open presents!"

"Maybe I would already _be_ dressed if there wasn't a _girl_ in my room." Harry glared at Hermione. The girl huffed and stalked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Draco flopped down on Harry's bed as soon as Harry was out of it. "So what'd you get me for Christmas?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"I hate surprises. Tell me now."

Harry tugged a shirt over his head and rolled his eyes at Draco. "Aren't you supposed to be the mature older brother?"

"I'm only six months older than you," Draco pointed out. "Are you ready? Let's go, I think Mum's making pancakes."

They stampeded down the stairs. Draco reached the bottom just slightly before Harry and made a beeline for the kitchen, but Harry went down the hallway and into the living room, where the Floo was located.

"Harry!" A pair of arms latched onto him. "There you are! I was starting to wonder if you didn't want to see me."

"I was sleeping," Harry admitted. "Pansy, I can't breathe."

"Sorry." Pansy released him and took a step back, looking at him critically. "How could you sleep in on Christmas morning?"

Before Harry could answer, he was enveloped in another hug, this one from his Aunt Andromeda. "Harry, darling, it's so good to see you."

Over Andromeda's shoulder, Harry could see Blaise covering a snigger with his hand. Neville, who appeared to have just arrived through the Floo, shot Harry a sympathetic look – he was no stranger to overenthusiastic relatives.

"Hi, Aunt Andy," said Harry dutifully. He let out a sigh of relief as he was released from the hug. Uncle Ted offered him a handshake rather than trying to hug him, and Harry accepted gladly. "Happy Christmas. Hi, Uncle Ted."

He was about to sidle over to his friends when his mother's voice rang out through the living room. "Harry? Come help me set the table, please."

Harry made a face at Blaise, who was now in a fit of laughter. As Harry walked out of the room, he heard Hermione saying behind him, "Blaise, stop being a _prat_."

The dining room was two doors down, on the other side of the parlor. Harry stepped inside, but it was empty except for a large table. "Mother?"

"Here, Harry."

Harry turned around and found himself face to face with Narcissa. She held out a stack of plates, and he dutifully put out his arms for them, trying not to grimace at the weight.

"Can't you just set the table with magic?" Harry grumbled as he set the plates around the table.

"I could," Narcissa agreed, "but then you'd never learn how to properly set a table. Your education in that respect has been woefully neglected." She waved her wand, and a pack of utensils flew into the room and settled on top of one of the plates. "Silverware next."

"What about Draco?"

"Draco's helping in the kitchen. He can set the table for the New Year's party. Silverware, Harry."

Harry sighed and picked up the forks.

Ten minutes later, when the table was set to Narcissa's standards, the guests trooped into the dining room, and Harry seated himself between Neville and Hermione. Neville sat next to Blaise, and there was a space for Draco before Pansy's seat at the end. Harry's Metamorphmagus cousin Nymphadora was on Hermione's other side, her hair colored red and green for the occasion. Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted were across from Blaise and Neville, but all the other seats remained empty.

"It looks like you're expecting a lot more people," said Hermione. "Are they all family?"

"We have a very complicated family," said Harry.

"Well, I knew _that_. Your brother is only six months older than you."

"We have two different mothers, but the same father," Harry explained. "And our mothers are married. Dad is married to Mother's cousin Regulus, and Regulus has a brother who is also married to a man. Then Mother has two sisters – Aunt Andy and Aunt Bella. Aunt Andy is married to Uncle Ted –"

"And they're my parents," Dora interrupted. She grinned when Hermione and Neville both looked at her in surprise. "Shocking, right?"

"And they're _all_ coming?" said Neville incredulously. "But it's just breakfast."

"Christmas breakfast is a family tradition. Mum started it years ago. We've been doing it for as long as I can remember." Harry smiled faintly at the fond memories. "There was this one year Dad thought he'd get us a Kneazle, and he had it in a box, but the Kneazle broke out while we were eating and came running into the dining room and jumped on Draco's head."

"Hey, you can't tell that story," Draco protested as he came into the room bearing a platter of pancakes. "It's bad enough when Mum tells it to everyone we meet!"

"Hush, Draco," scolded Narcissa. "Put the plate on this side of the table." She walked over to the other side and set down her own platter in front of Harry and his friends. Harry's mouth started to water just looking at the food.

"Is your mum a good cook?" Neville asked.

"You have no idea," said Harry and Dora at the same time. They grinned at each other.

"We're here, we're here!" a male voice called out from the living room. "Sorry we're so late, Lily. Haven't missed anything, have we?"

Harry pushed his chair back at the same time that Draco tore out of the dining room, shouting, "DAD!" at the top of his lungs. Without even an apology to his friends, Harry followed his brother out into the hallway, nearly colliding with his mum.

"Sorry, Mum!"

Lily laughed and ruffled his hair. "Just make it quick, sweetheart. It's time to eat."

Harry ran into the living room and was swept up in a hug almost immediately. He squirmed, and Regulus let him go.

"Hey there, kiddo. Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas, Regulus," said Harry, grinning in spite of the undignified manner of greeting. "Happy Christmas, Dad."

James released Draco to grab Harry up in an embrace, leaving Regulus to greet Draco. This hug lasted longer than any Harry had had yet today, but Harry didn't care. Things were always a little different with his dad.

"All right, we'd better get our seats before Narcissa comes looking for us," said Regulus when Harry was finally let go again.

The four of them traipsed back into the dining room, ignoring Lily's knowing look and Narcissa's withering one. Harry flopped back into his seat as Regulus sat at the end of the table, next to Dora. James was on Regulus's other side.

"We're still missing a few people," Regulus observed.

"Their loss," said Lily. She smiled at all of them from her position at the head of the table. "Well, what are you all waiting for?"

There was a clatter of plates as everyone tried to be first to get pancakes. Harry fought and lost a tussle with Dora over the fork, so he used his fingers to grab from the platter, ignoring Hermione's quelling look. Neville and, to Harry's amusement, James followed his example, but the fork passed to Hermione and then Regulus. Everyone at the other end of the table took from the platter there.

"So you're missing… an aunt and two uncles?" said Hermione.

"That's right," said Harry.

Dora looked impressed. "You've got a good memory there, Hermione."

"She's top of our class," Neville put in. "The only classes she's not top of are Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Regulus's eyes traveled down the table from Harry to Draco. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the Floo. A moment later, Aunt Bellatrix stumbled into the room, looking rather the worse for wear. She had a black eye and a cut on her cheek, and her robes were torn. Narcissa and Andromeda both stood up and led her to the empty seat between them.

"What happened?" Narcissa asked when Bellatrix was settled. "I thought you had the day off."

Bellatrix shook her head. "Not work. Malfoy."

Everyone at the table shuddered, even those not part of the family. The Hogwarts students were all aware that Lucius Malfoy had caused the Chamber of Secrets fiasco, and as for the family… well, Harry mused, it was a good thing his mother had gotten out of an arranged marriage with the man.

The table was silent for the next few minutes, partly because everyone kept shooting glances at Bellatrix as Narcissa coaxed her to eat.

Harry checked his watch. His uncles were almost always fifteen minutes late.

Right on cue, the Floo flared in the other room. Harry pushed his chair back slightly so he could get a good look at both Neville's and Hermione's expressions.

The dining room doorway was suddenly filled with the tall figure of Harry's Uncle Sirius. He posed heroically and stated, "The party has arrived!"

"If you're going to stand there and be melodramatic all day, at least let me in first," said a dry voice from behind him. Hermione's mouth dropped open, and Neville paled.

"If _you're_ going to – oof!" Sirius stumbled to the side as Severus Snape, professor of Potions at Hogwarts and Harry's uncle, pushed past him into the dining room. He swept over to the middle of the table and took the seat across from Harry, raising an eyebrow at the students.

Neville was now a curious shade of green. Hermione seemed to realize that her mouth was still open, so she closed it and cleared her throat. "Er, hello, Professor Snape."

"Miss Granger." Severus's eyes were unreadable. "I thought I might be seeing you here. Mr. Longbottom, this is not Potions class, it is Christmas breakfast. You will receive neither detention nor points loss from me here."

Neville swallowed and nodded.

"I didn't know you were married, Professor Snape," Pansy piped up as Sirius fell into the seat across from Hermione.

"It is not something I typically broadcast to the world," said Severus. "However, there are occasions, such as this one, in which I cannot avoid being seen with my husband."

Sirius draped an arm across Severus's shoulders, and Severus stiffened. "Don't let him fool you," Sirius told the students. "He's madly in love with me."

Harry had to cover his mouth to hide his laughter as Severus tried and failed to push Sirius's arm away. Neville and Hermione looked like they weren't sure if they should be amused or not. Severus finally gave up and sat back with a sigh, letting Sirius fork pancakes onto his plate for him.

"So let me get this straight," Blaise was saying. "I've taken Potions classes with you two for more than four years, and somehow never found out you're _related to the professor_?"

"It's not a blood relation," said Draco. "Actually, it's sort of convoluted –"

"He comes to your family gatherings!" Blaise insisted. "I don't care how convoluted it is! How could you hide it from us for so long?"

"It's not really that hard," said Harry. "Uncle Severus doesn't like to display affection in public."

"That looks pretty affectionate," said Pansy sweetly as Sirius reached up to toy with a strand of Severus's hair. Severus scowled and swatted the hand away.

"I cannot control the mutt," he said. "Draco and Harry have actually been raised with _manners_."

"Hey, I object to that," said Regulus.

"My apologies, Regulus. I did not mean to imply that Sirius didn't receive _lessons_ in manners; he simply never paid attention to them."

Sirius responded to this accusation by sticking his tongue in Severus's ear, which got a yelp out of Severus and a laugh from the rest of the table, even the recovering Neville.

The rest of the breakfast passed by pleasantly. By the time Lily and Narcissa got up to clear the table, Harry was feeling uncomfortably full and eager to get to his presents. The other students looked just as excited, but it was Dora who finally shouted, "PRESENT TIME!" and got them all running into the living room.

Harry situated himself next to the tree with Draco, as he usually did on Christmas. Neville, Hermione, Blaise, and Pansy spread out behind them on the floor, while Dora sat on a chair nearby, tapping her wand against her knee. The tradition was that Harry and Draco would pull out the presents, and Dora would float them to the proper person. They started immediately, not even waiting for the adults to settle in chairs around the edge of the room.

"There's something I've been wondering," Hermione said as they watched Draco gleefully opening a new broomstick. "How did you _get_ such a complicated family? I don't know of anyone else with two mothers, a father, _and_ a stepfather, not to mention uncles and aunts. Or is that a wizard thing?"

"It's not exactly common, even in the wizarding world." It was Regulus who answered. He sat on a chair next to the tree. James sat on his other side with his hand on Regulus's thigh. "But Narcissa and Lily both wanted to have children, and since we were all so close already, it made sense for James to take care of it."

"Most same-sex couples just adopt," Lily added from the doorway, where she stood with Narcissa, "but when four of your best friends are male –"

"I think you've answered the question," said Draco loudly. "I don't need to hear about my parents having sex, thank you."

There was some general laughter. Hermione sat back on her heels, looking thoughtful. "How did you end up so close?" she asked.

"Merlin, that's a long story," said Sirius. He had draped himself artfully across Severus's lap, his legs and body stretched out across two more chairs. Severus had a long-suffering expression on his face. "I think it would take all day to explain."

There was a moment of silence as all six children and Nymphadora turned around to gaze imploringly at the adults.

"You cannot be serious," said Regulus.

"I have to admit, I'm a bit curious myself," said Bellatrix, who was leaning against Andromeda on the opposite side of the tree from Regulus. "I know the end of the story, but I don't know anything that happened before you graduated."

"All right, all right, fine," said James with a grin. "I'll start, then."

"Please try to remember that you're explaining this to children," said Severus.

James made a face at him. "I'm not likely to forget. Two of them are _mine_." He turned back to the eager students. "It all started when I was at breakfast one morning and noticed that Sirius had this giant bruise on his jaw…"


	2. Chapter 1: The Quidditch Injury

**Author's Note:** Shoutout to Elensule, SasuNaru4evar, neonorne, IloveRemusnSirius, lily-rhiannon, ChimericalParoxysm, and Rue-the-Marauder for the reviews! I appreciate your waiting for me as I worked on this chapter.

I know some of you are probably still confused about how the family is put together, so for the sake of clearing things up:

Narcissa and Lily are married; James and Regulus are married; Sirius and Severus are married.

Draco's parents are Narcissa and James. Harry's parents are Lily and James.

Draco and Harry call Narcissa "Mother" and Lily "Mum."

And although this hasn't come up yet, some of you may be wondering, so I'll tell you that all of the above go by the last name of Black except for Severus, who kept Snape in an effort to preserve some dignity - it comes in short supply when one is married to Sirius. ^^

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Quidditch Injury**

"Hey, that's not true!" Sirius interrupted.

"What do you mean? Of course it's true, I remember it, great bloody thing," said James, with a glare at his friend. "Half your face was black and blue!"

"I wasn't talking about the bruise. That's not when it started. Sev didn't give me that bruise."

"What?"

"I _told_ you I got it when a moving staircase slammed into my face," said Sirius. "I wasn't lying."

James, with a startled expression, turned his gaze to Severus, while Harry and his friends tried to look appropriately horrified at Sirius's past injury.

"I tried never to bruise him where it would show," Severus drawled. "I was certainly tempted more than once to punch him in the face, but I think I would remember if I'd actually done so."

"Well, it's still the start of things, as I'm telling the story right now," said James firmly. "As I was saying…"

* * *

It was the morning of the season's first Quidditch match – Gryffindor versus Slytherin – and James Potter was up bright and early, as he usually was for Quidditch. Some players spent the whole morning before a game battling their nerves, but James wasn't one of them, being self-confident almost to a fault.

On the other side of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, Sirius Black collapsed onto the bench and reached for a piece of toast. "Mornin'," he mumbled.

James looked up at his best friend and grinned at the bleary expression on his face. "Late night?"

"Bit." Sirius raised his head to scan the table for the butter, revealing a large, colorful bruise that spread across his jaw and the side of his face.

James gaped. "Merlin, Sirius, what happened to your face?"

Sirius touched his jaw gingerly. "Moving staircase. Smacked me in the face. Pass the butter?"

"Sure." James slid the butter over to Sirius, but he was frowning. How could a moving staircase smack a person in the face? "What were you doing last night?" he asked.

"Studying."

Now James was sure Sirius was lying. His friend _never_ studied, and certainly not late at night. Sirius's exhaustion was probably connected with the bruise, as well, since the moving staircase scenario was pretty much out. "You're lying."

"No'm not." Sirius scowled at him.

James narrowed his eyes. "You were fighting someone."

"No," Sirius protested, but his eyes widened in alarm, and James knew he'd caught on to something.

"Yes, you were. I bet that's where you got that bruise."

"I told you, it was a staircase! I wasn't paying attention," said Sirius. "It was dark when I was heading back last night…" He trailed off.

"From fighting," James supplied, and Sirius looked away quickly. "What for? Wait a minute… don't tell me you went to finish that duel with Snape." Sirius had been involved in an altercation with the greasy Slytherin yesterday afternoon. The duel ended in a draw because McGonagall found them and put an end to it.

"That's none of your business."

"It is if you come to breakfast with a great bloody bruise on your face," James pointed out. "You should see Madam Pomfrey."

"Not until after the match," said Sirius. He grinned faintly. "I want to see you slaughter my brother's team."

James grinned back. "Point taken. But you'll go after we're through?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll go – OI! Snivellus! Give me back my Charms notes, you wanker!" Sirius jumped up, glaring in the direction of the entrance. The angry reddening of his face made a bizarre contrast with the bruise. James twisted in his seat to see what Sirius was looking at, and was not surprised to see Snape stop in his tracks and sneer at them.

"I don't have your bloody Charms notes, Black."

"You liar. I _saw_ you stealing them from my bag," Sirius growled.

Snape's sneer grew more pronounced. "You must have _seen_ wrong then, because I haven't been anywhere near your bag." He paused. "I like what you've done to your face, by the way. It's very… _unique_." The delicate emphasis he put on the word strongly implied a negative connotation.

Sirius's face reddened even more, and he stalked over to where Snape was standing. He stopped in front of the Slytherin and hissed something in his ear that James couldn't quite catch. Snape met Sirius's eyes, smirked, and swept away towards the Slytherin table, leaving Sirius to clench and unclench his fists. When Sirius finally turned back to the Gryffindor table, James saw the murderous look in his friend's eyes and hurriedly stood up.

"I'd better get going," he excused himself as Sirius sat back down to breakfast. "You know, I have to get changed, and there's the usual pep talk…" He didn't bother to elaborate further before escaping through the doors and out onto the grounds.

This rivalry with Snape was definitely different from the years before. It used to be that James was the one who exchanged curses with the nasty Slytherin, while Sirius preferred to watch and jeer. He'd confided to James once that he was afraid to get too caught up in a duel and use something Dark by accident, thanks to his upbringing. Now, though… yesterday's duel had not been the first this year. James could only assume that something had happened between Sirius and Snape, something Sirius didn't want to admit to. He wouldn't pry, though. Anything to do with Snape was bound to be disturbing.

As he reached the Quidditch locker rooms, James set aside his thoughts about Sirius for the moment, instead turning his mind to plans for his beloved game. It wasn't long before the rest of the team arrived, and then – after a quick pep talk – they were ready to enter the field.

James sought out the form of Sirius's fourth-year brother, Regulus, as the Slytherin and Gryffindor captains shook hands. Regulus was Slytherin's Seeker, and was – unfortunately for Gryffindor – pretty damn good. James exchanged a glance with the other Chasers on his own team, tilting his head towards Regulus, and they nodded back at him. Their job in this game was to make as many goals as possible, so that even if Regulus caught the Snitch – which was likely – Gryffindor would win.

The whistle blew, and they were off. Gryffindor had a bit of an advantage in this game because they had no new players, so they were all accustomed to working together. In contrast, the Slytherins had acquired one new Chaser and two new Beaters. As he flew, James kept a mental tally of his own goals so he could relive the game later with his friends, and he also made sure to send a smirk in Regulus's direction every time the sullen snake flew past him.

It was all going perfectly, up until one of Slytherin's Beaters got off a lucky shot and smacked a Bludger into James's foot. He cried out and spun out of control, dropping the Quaffle. As he steadied himself on his broom, he caught sight of Regulus's taunting sneer. James scowled and took off again, ignoring the pain in his foot in favor of winning the game.

He wasn't playing at his best now, though, and a short while later, Regulus caught the Snitch, winning the game for Slytherin at two hundred to one hundred forty. James headed for the ground and managed to land heavily on his injured foot as he swung off the broom, having momentarily forgotten about the hit. Sirius, who had run out to meet him, caught him before he could fall to the ground.

"Guess I'm not the only one headed to the hospital wing, mate," said Sirius wryly. "Come on, let's get inside before we get overtaken by snakes."

James limped towards the castle, supporting himself on Sirius's shoulder, and the other two Marauders, their friends Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin, fell into step with them as they went. Peter was blathering on about how well the game had been going and how Slytherin must have cheated to get James out of play. James didn't try to stop his chatter, being rather grateful for the distraction.

"Sirius!"

It took James a moment to place the voice that sounded as the Marauders approached the door to the castle. When he did work out who it was, he rather wished he hadn't.

"What do you want, Regulus?" said Sirius, spinning around so fast that James nearly crashed to the ground. Remus took over the role of shoulder support so that Sirius could have an arm free if he needed to hit his brother.

Regulus glowered at the four of them. "Severus wanted me to give this to you," he said to Sirius, tapping the sheaf of parchment he held. "But if you're going to be rude about it I won't bother."

Scowling, Sirius snatched the parchment out of Regulus's hands. James looked over his friend's shoulder and saw the word "Charms" scratched out across the top in Sirius's handwriting.

Sirius emitted a low growl. "_He said he didn't have these!_"

Regulus shrugged. "That's not my problem, brother. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a celebration to get back to." He smirked at them and turned around to head back to the locker rooms, where James would have been headed if his foot didn't feel like it was going to fall off.

As he watched Regulus go, the only thing James could think, oddly enough, was, _Nice arse._

* * *

Harry and Draco were both doubled over laughing at James's choice of words and the startled look on Regulus's face. Dora was also laughing, but the boys' friends didn't seem to know what to think.

"Is this normal for your family?" Hermione asked Harry.

Wiping tears from his eyes, Harry shook his head. "Not exactly. Usually Sirius is the one who says things like that."

"Did you hear that, James?" Sirius called out. "I'm rubbing off on you!"

"You're also shedding," said Severus. "Get off my lap."

Instead of obeying, Sirius rearranged himself so that he was sitting upright with his arms wrapped around Severus's neck. From the look on Severus's face, his grip was rather tight. "I. Do. Not. Shed," Sirius growled.

Severus was unimpressed. "_Off._"

"Fine." Sirius slid to the floor and rested his head against Severus's legs, either ignoring or not seeing the way Severus rolled his eyes.

"What happened next?" asked Pansy.

"Oh, we went to the hospital wing and got fussed over by Pomfrey for the rest of the day," said James. "She let Sirius go for dinner, but I had to stay the night because half the bones in my foot had been crushed." He made a face.

"Were you really fighting with Uncle Severus the night before?" Draco asked Sirius.

Sirius grinned. "Yes, although that wasn't the first time. It was just when James noticed." He craned his neck back to look at Severus. "When did we start that, do you remember?"

"September," said Severus. "You'd just finished that bloody Map of yours and you decided to sneak up on me, alone, in the middle of the night. Luckily no one was in the library at the time or we'd have gotten detention."

"What was this fight about, though?" Draco persisted. "And what did the Charms notes have to do with anything?"

Severus gave a sly smile. "Ah. That would be giving away the story."

"I think that's my cue to start," said Sirius dryly, observing the eager expressions of the children. "Well, it was kind of a stupid fight. We were just continuing with the duel we'd had earlier…"


End file.
